Rangers-Blue Jackets in review

1) This was an onions game. A big boy pants game. And a lot of Rangers showed up, played with onions, put their big boy pants on. A lot of them battled more than they had all season. Rick Nash was obviously the leader, right from the start, targeted, pushing back, shoving back, punching back. As if he was a different player. Could you even imagine the type of player he’d be if he played like that even just once in a while.

2) Guys like Derick Brassard — the Rangers best player for two wins in a row — and Benoit Pouliot and Carl Hagelin and Mats Zuccarello all did battle right from the start.

3) Let’s be clear, the Rangers were outhit, and they aren’t likely to be able to survive, as currently constituted, playing game after game like that. But like the ’11-12 team that we reference often, they got punched in the mouth and got better after the punch. That ’11-12 team always responded, played meaner and harder when opponents got nasty. This team is not that team. But coming down the stretch, it will have to respond like that. Or go home. The game was played at a great pace and with mucho truculence. If only the Rangers could have mustered a fraction of that in Carolina, they’d be in so much better shape.

4) Benoit Pouliot. Good for him. The guy comes back from his daughter’s birth and plays a game like that, with a fight to boot. I don’t blame him completely for that pass. His stick broke. And I can’t say it was the wrong play to go back with the puck there without knowing what their breakout is. I don’t know. If his stick doesn’t break, nobody probably even notices he went backward with the puck.

5) Great response by Derek Stepan bailed him out, too, quickly tying the game on strong plays by Ryan McDonagh and Derek Dorsett. I thought Dorsett played the way he was playing before the injury, before the Daniel Carcillo trade. The Rangers are probably going to need both of those guys sooner or later. Or now. Dorsett very, very nearly scored a gigantic goal, too.

6) The daily Nash-O-Meter: The needle broke off. Guy was a monster. He was run at and run over and fouled. He scored a goal that absolutely should have counted. He was all over Sergei Bobrovsky and anybody else. He dropped the gloves with a guy who was, somehow, allowed a whole bunch of crosschecks and hacks and somehow ended up with the same number of penalty minutes (Nash won the fight, too). And let’s be clear here. He was booed because the Columbus fans were told, by then-GM Scott Howson, that Nash asked to be traded at the ’12 deadline. When, in fact, Nash had been told the Blue Jackets were going in a different direction, and asked what he wanted to do. When he said, in whatever manner, that he’d prefer to go, Howson — who screwed up the entire deal and maybe could have had Chris Kreider that day — announced post-deadline that Nash wanted to be traded. That’s why he was booed. You can’t blame the fans for that.

7) Henrik Lundqvist. Was pretty fabulous. He got caught off guard a bit on the goal after the Pouliot giveaway, but man, did he keep it 0-0, then 1-1, then 2-1. And how about that scramble late third, at 2-1, when Dan Girardi made a save behind Lundqvist and the fourth line and McDonagh put Blue Jackets on their keysters, and Lundqvist survived the ensuing barrage even after both Brian Boyle and Dorsett lost their sticks. Mayhem. But the Rangers are back to defending, for the moment, after that woeful game in Ottawa. They played last night as they did on Sunday vs. the Sharks. Only this time they scored. Actually again scored a goal that should have counted and didn’t, too.

8) And wouldn’t Lundqvist have been skewered here if he gave up the type of wrap-around game-winner that Sergei Bobrovsky allowed to Brassard? Terrific strong move and smart shot by Brassard, but that can’t go in.

9) I didn’t think the Blake Comeau hit on John Moore was illegal. Predatory perhaps, player lined up and defenseless, but not illegal. Moore wasn’t a few feet from the boards and he didn’t have his back turned, and it didn’t appear that the main point of contact was the head. Still, Comeau could have let up and blasted away. It didn’t look good for Moore, and if he’s out a while, it will be interesting to see who fills his slot — Raphael Diaz, Justin Falk or Conor Allen being the likely candidates.

10) The PP really has gotten predictable and stale. I thought, for moments, it moved the puck last night, but not nearly enough moving of feet. And faceoffs. My God. So many times the Rangers get a power play, lose the draw and have to start again from 180 feet away. The one time Brad Richards won a draw, the PP did get set up and threaten briefly.

11) What’s up lately with Zuccarello and passing up chances to shoot? Can’t be a good formula for him to repeat the success he had pre-Olympics. I think he’s played well since he returned, but seems to be hesitant to shoot it, maybe in deference to Martin St. Louis. …

12) Who, by the way, had only one shot on goal, doesn’t look comfortable on the PP, or anything like the player who scores a lot of goals. He does score in bunches, and maybe he still will, and if he does, I imagine all will be forgiven. Otherwise this could be a disaster.

13) Even in a snarly game like this, where you know whistles around either net are going to be followed by post-whistle shenanigans every time, MSG Network continued its terrible habit of going directly to a closeup elsewhere. Awful.

Great review Carp. I found myself nodding in agreement with each point. Really was a great team response and maybe just what they needed. Playing five D after the Moore injury didn’t seem to hurt us at all. As someone noted last night, torts had us prepared for it.

Prust hurt, and out for the rest of the regular season, and MDZ managed a whole 3 minutes of ice time. the only thing that could have been worse for the mean girls is if Klein, and MSL had scored last night.

Nice review, Carp!
Yes, best game, emotion wise, of the season. Would anyone mind this matchup in April? I wouldn’t.

I knew Wicky would love this game. And yes, Wick, I remember you said it about Pouliot when they signed him.

Carp, on 11 and 12. I don’t think MZA’s hand is fully healed after the fracture. His strength isn’t fully back yet, that’s why he prefers to pass it instead of shooting. Also, oftentimes, he loses his stick. His grip isn’t back to baseline yet. MSL, on the other hand, grips his stick too tight. He is trying to prove to NY he is still a goalscorer we were hoping for. He needs to relax and play his game. Goals will come. He is also being grabbed, mugged and interfered with similarly to Nash by opposition.

Great game. Great review. Ridiculous call on the non-goal after terrific play by Nash. Yes the boys got outhit, but they also dished out some. Girardi, Dorsett. And I’m a fan of Boyle and loved that play when he outraced the two defenders to the puck in the third. Let’s see the same compete level tonight! LGR!

Great win for the Rangers.. they were definitely out hit at times and what’s more disappointing is the hit on Moore with no retribution. I know you want to stay out of the box but you can’t let teams get away with those hits.

Sorry, Miami, read Carp’s great review before posting. The whole team finally had some fight and snarl, wonder if we will look back on this game and call it a watershed moment of the season…sure hope so. Also pray JM does not end up like Sauer. In the back of everyone’s mind, will the new Rick Gnash clone show up again tomorrow?

Oh, and I see you did read his article. While THE was not the center of the universe last night, he did add grit and snarl and speed along with the other Blueshirts…and I can’t remember any of those defensive lapses we’ve seen from him this season.

Am traveling again. Thank you, Carp for the recap. Didn’t see the game, but sounds like the effort we were all waiting for. Sorry to see JMoops got hurt. Hope he’s ok.

Henrik was a factor. NASH????? Where did this come from and why hasn’t he played like this from the get-g0?????? Leadership, even just some effort from the high=paid players has been sorely missing on this team. Perhaps it began last night. (Richards, MSL, Nash). Yes, NHL hockey is not just about looking pretty in the first half of the regular season. It’s about winning big games at the end of the regular season. It’s about being tough and fighting for your space to win PO games and win the CUP!!! For one night, it appears, one of our big boys was a ‘big boy’. Keep it up!!!!

Hope it continues against another team bigger but less talented than us tonight!! LGR!!! LGR!!!

If you want to teach the few young players we have how to play the game, for one night, for a few moments, Rich Nash did that last night. THAT is called leading by example and THAT is what makes great players, and players grow around you.

Hey…no star of the game for McDonagh? I know the other three are deserving….but McDonagh makes that first goal hapoen…that quick response relaxes the team…and he wills it to happen…go ahead…start making the comparisions to #2…because he dials it up every game….unlike #19… who doesn’t dial it up…but sure knows how to phone it in!

Great read Carp,
Two whipping boys had a very good game last night, Nash and Step.
Also Boyle is having a great stretch of games and is a force, would love to see Carcillo with him on the 4th and Dorsett adding punch to the 3rd line.

I want to see those same onions tonight against a real rival team. We have been so flat against the Devils this year. This is just as big a game for them and for me it is the most important. I do not like losing to the Devils!

“That got me fired up,” The King said of seeing Nash go with Calvert. “It got me mad. It got me to think, ‘There’s no way we’re going to lose this hockey game when they fight our guy.’
“I’m still kind of mad about [the fact] that he had to fight.”

*********************************************************************
Well, Henrik, fess up to it. This team has, as it’s architect, the worst GM in hockey. Who else would leave so many finesse players exposed to defending themselves. Sather, ….., Glen Sather. That’s who!!

Last night’s game was great! Other people have commented on it being the best of the year. Totally agree. Made you remember the fight this team USED to have…like we needed a reminder. Holding out hope that the team can carry that level of intensity (not you Richards…everyone knows better) going forward.

Never like saying anything nice about the Devils but the Prudential Center is a great place to watch a hockey game, save for the incredibly annoying PA guy and the millions of awful red lights everywhere.

“Never like saying anything nice about the Devils but the Prudential Center is a great place to watch a hockey game, save for the incredibly annoying PA guy and the millions of awful red lights everywhere”

There’s a lot not to like about that place, IMO, including the location, the fans who yell “suck” all the time … like that’s why they attend, to yell “so-and-so sucks” … the strippers they have all around the arena … the p.a. guy, who takes about 10 minutes to announce a goal, even after an OT winner. … ps, worse ice than MSG.

That game was *awesome*. Just *awesome*. Why can’t that *Nash* guy play like that *EVERY* game?! Just really fun to watch.

Bill Raftery would’ve loved that game… *ONIONS!!!*

(Miss you Dubi)

Let’s beat the Debbies tonight, before we get too excited. Anyone read that story from the Minnesota fan on Reddit? I don’t know if it’s true or what the real story was, but it sounds about right. Devils “fans” are the worst.

I try to ignore the terrible location aspect of it all. If you park in one of the many garages within a few blocks of the arena then it’s just a short walk with cops everywhere keeping an eye out. Getting in and out quickly is key.

The fans…well we _are_ in New Jersey. Not exactly the classiest bunch of folks. You get used to these morons when you live here.

Actually, I just read more about the Reddit story. Apparently it’s not true and the Minnesota fan was actually the jackwagon.

Nevertheless, I went to the Rangers/Devils preseason game this year at the Rock, and I was called some interesting names (I had my Hank jersey on). Not only that, some 40ish year old guy with a “KovalSUCK” jersey on was actually arguing with, like, a 10 year old who was chanting “Let’s Go Rangers”. It was pretty embarrassing. The 40 year old guy had kids too!

I just have to say …. FFFFING AWESOME by NASH last night. Finally that clown shows cojones.

And a money quote: “probably the two cross checks to the head, the slew foot and the fact that he said he was going after me no matter what and he doesn’t care. That is enough to set me off….did you see it?”

Is there a bigger moron than Calvart? I wish we played them again so Carcillo could break glass with his face.

Also, what a farce the NHL is … doesn’t protect NASH at all. In spite of him typically being a marshmallow, the man gets hacked every game and rarely gets calls. It’s insane.

I’m sorry, but witnessing the heart, effort and fearlessness which -Nash- displayed against the BJ’s, it makes me closer to being completely sure the guy is a major-league freek-in bow-wow and that his usual poor effort is not the result of post concussion as has been suggested here from time to time.

But, in the interests of remaining POZY, I will try to withhold my final judgment until they finish the season, (though I make no promises I’ll be able to proceed forward without an occasional outburst of my acerbic tongue).

-Nash- certainly has the talent to lead the the team to the playoffs. Though, I don’t believe he has a compatible Center or necessary physical protection on the opposite wing to play like that every night. Frankly, If he is continually targeted and ultimately forced to drop his gloves without intervention from a teammate, we are toast.

Nash’s performance against his old team last night reminded of Avery’s performance against Dallas few years back…After he was picked up by the Rangers the second time. Had his best game of the year and then disappeared into Torts’ doghouse for the rest of the year.

“It looked like (Bobrovsky) punched our guy (Nash). I wasn’t sure what happened, and he was getting involved,” Lundqvist said. “I’m not gonna let them be six-on-five down there, but he skated away and I skated away. If the other (goalie) gets involved and they have more guys going at it, I guess I have to do something. I didn’t have to tonight, so…” He paused: “Lucky him.”